Reviews

MLB 2005

The "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" theme continues with the game's franchise mode. Yup, just like in the franchise mode of every other baseball, basketball, hockey, or football game currently out, it now makes virtually no difference what happens on the field. The real trick is figuring out the perfect price to charge for a Coke.

When you get tired of gouging fans, you'll want to check out MLB 2005's career mode. Last year it was the only thing the game had going for it, and the fun continues this year. In a nutshell, you create a player, place him on the spring training roster of any team, and then perform well enough to make the big club for opening day. Performing different tasks and completing challenges earns you stat points which you can use to make him a force in the league.

Making things even more intriguing this year is that you can use your EyeToy to put your own face on your player. It makes the action in this "RPG within a sports sim" all that more personal. It's not enough just to have your team win, you -- and now it's literally you -- have to do well individually. The career mode here may be my favorite mode in any sports title available, so it's nice that this year's game finally does justice to the concept. One minor gripe -- for those without EyeToys, a downloadable "put your face in the game" process like in Tony Hawk's Underground would have been appreciated.

Keeping his eye on the ball.

Where you will put your online connection to use is with 989's excellent set of online features. Create leagues, tournaments, or send e-mail to friends and rivals. One big disappointment is the lack of roster downloads. Sure, Yankees fans will be happy -- A-Rod is in pinstripes -- but everyone else will have to piece things together to get their teams current for "Opening Day."

For the record, MLB 2005 was the first 989 Sports game in a while that I was actually looking forward to reviewing. After last year, the series had nowhere to go but up and it made huge moves -- both presentation and gameplay-wise -- in the right direction. It's still not quite on the same level as the highly polished MVP Baseball from EA Sports, but it's nowhere near the cellar dweller it was last season.